North Carolina

My family and I went on a trip to North Carolina to visit some of Mike's friends that he met while sailing in Greece many years ago. Although I had never met them, I already felt like I knew them from the many stories Mike told me and talking with them on the phone. It was great to finally meet them. Kailyn really took them, especially Jayson or 'papa' as she called him.

'Papa' & Kailyn

The airplane trip was long in itself. Kailyn was very excited that she got to ride in an airplane, it wasn't her first time, it was actually her third time, but she was so much younger before that she doesn't remember. We went from Oakland to Seattle, changed planes, then Seattle to Chicago, a stop over and then Chicago to Raleigh. I had NO idea that we had to go to Chicago, what a pain it is to fly out the way! Kailyn did not nap at all while on the plane (even though she was exhausted), she was just really excited about everything. So, we landed in Raleigh at like 11pm, which was really 8pm Cali time. We stayed at a hotel and Kailyn slept great on her new travel cot we got her.

Kailyn, watching her toons on our ipod.

The next day, Jayson and Sandra drove 2 1/2 hrs from Charlotte to Raleigh to pick us up, even though we said we would rent a car, they insisted. They are so sweet, that's the kind of people they are. Now that it's day time, I can see what NC actually looks like. I have heard from tons of people how beautiful it is and I have been so excited to see it for myself. I could not believe my eyes, it is SO beautiful! I have never seen SO many trees like this in my life. So big, green and everything there is so lush. I am used to living in CA where they cut all the trees down to build housing communities, but in NC they just cut out a spot to put the house and leave the rest of the forest surrounding it. And what a difference it makes, you can really tell by the air quality, so much cleaner, thanks to the trees! :) And don't get me started on the houses there, they are absolutely amazing, they have so much detail, so much character, and they are pretty affordable for the size you get, some of them are MASSIVE! The only thing that I don't like is that they don't build fences around the property, that's something you have to get a permit for if you wanted to add one. I guess it's a good way to get to know your neighbors, but it lacks privacy and not good if you have kids and dogs, it's hard to tell a 2 yr old where the boundary ends.

Our friends house, just gorgeous.

We spent quite a bit of time driving around sight seeing from downtown Charlotte to the raceways to the mall to the boardwalk, all which are absolutely spotless. I couldn't believe how clean everything was, even the building themselves were spotless. And the people, SO friendly.

Out to lunch by the marina, it was perfect.

My love :)

My little supermodel :)

Us at the boardwalk

Kailyn's 1st carousel ride!

We hung out at the house some days just relaxing, which was great too, Kailyn really loved hanging out in their backyard waiting for bunnies to emerge and their driveway jumping over cracks...that's her new thing these days. If we were inside, she was watching fish in either of their 3 tanks, I guess we're going to have to put our fish tank together when we move into the new house. They were like instant babysitters, I mean she would stand there and watch them forever!

Hanging out in the backyard, check out those trees, amazing.

We went to the zoo one day and I don't mean to sound so repetitive but OMG it's SO beautiful! It's 500 acres of lush greenery. The trails that take you around the park felt like hiking trails, you couldn't even tell that you were in a zoo. You were literally surrounded by forest. The animals look happy and they have lots of space to roam. I am used to the Oakland Zoo which is like the complete opposite of this. We walked around the African part of the zoo which took about 2 hrs and they have a whole other section called North America, which we weren't able to do but they say would take about 3 hrs. One of the main reasons we decided to go to the zoo in the first place was b/c they had a 4D Dora and Diego Adventure show, we knew Kailyn would love it, it's her FAVORITE show. Well, she didn't like wearing the glasses so she didn't get to really experience it like Mike and I did, it was actually really cool! It felt like you were there with them exploring. Very cool.

Diego, Kailyn, Mommy & Dora :)

Diego, Kailyn, Daddy & Dora :)

All in all, we had a really great time, even if Kailyn didn't nap AT ALL and went to bed late, I really didn't want to leave NC. I am trying to convince Mike to move there eventually or to buy a second home there...that would work for me. :)